Miami Falls to No. 4 Florida, 7-3

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The University of Miami baseball team dropped its series opener to the fourth-ranked Florida Gators, 7-3, in front of a sellout crowd Friday evening at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.

“It’s just the little things,” head coach J.D. Arteaga said. “I don’t think we were out-classed in anyway. There’s little things in the game of baseball that you have to do in order to win when you’re matched up against a good team, and we didn’t do those things.”

The Hurricanes (5-4) took an early 2-1 advantage in the third inning, but the Gators (7-2) responded immediately and padded their lead late.

After Jason Torres’ team-leading sixth home run, Florida answered with runs in four of the final six frames.

The Gators pushed across two runs in the fourth before socking three solo shots, highlighted by back-to-back blasts in the seventh.

Florida first baseman Jac Caglianone, designated hitter Cade Kurland and catcher Luke Heyman all left the yard in the victory.

Gators right-hander Ryan Slater (1-0) picked up the win, tossing 3 ½ hitless innings in relief of starter Cade Fisher.

Miami hurler Gage Ziehl (0-1), who turned in a quality start, was tagged with the loss. Ziehl held the visitors to three earned runs across six frames, striking out a season-high nine.

The Hurricanes will look to even the rivalry series against Florida Saturday. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.

“I told the guys we need to think about today, learn from it and tomorrow’s a brand new day,” Arteaga said. “Everyday is a new day. We didn’t come into this thinking about a sweep. We came in looking to get the win on Friday night. We didn’t and now we’re focusing our attention on Saturday.”

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